Providing content using dynamic action templates

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing content using dynamic action templates are provided. A method for providing content to at least one user, comprises corresponding at least one action to at least one action template, associating the content with the at least one action, and presenting the content to the at least one user, wherein the at least one action template is appended to the content.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/766,418, filed on Feb. 13, 2013, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The field generally relates to systems and methods for providing contentto at least one user and, in particular, to systems and methods forproviding content using dynamic action templates.

BACKGROUND

A known pattern in a software client system is to display some content(e.g., a web page or other document) and then interact with the user.The user can then activate some graphic controls (e.g., a menu item, abutton) to trigger a new action, such as navigating to another web page.Known approaches for associating actions with content includeprogrammatically embedding actions, such as using graphical userinterface (GUI) language primitives to add buttons or menu items showingthe content, or using a known format, such as hyperlinks to embeddedactions with predefined behaviors.

For example, assuming GUI content containing a description of somemerchandise was displayed with a “Where to buy” menu item yesterday, andis now displayed with a “Where to Return” menu item today if a recall ofthis merchandise happened since yesterday, a known approach requiresrewriting the GUI of this content to reflect the change.

Currently, there is no way to dynamically associate different sets ofactions with the same content under different situations withoutemploying a complex programming effort.

SUMMARY

In general, exemplary embodiments of the invention include systems andmethods for providing content to at least one user and, in particular,to systems and methods for providing content using dynamic actiontemplates.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a systemfor providing content to at least one user comprises a management modulecapable of corresponding at least one action to at least one actiontemplate, associating the content with the at least one action, andappending the at least one action template to the content, and achoreograph engine routing the content including the at least one actiontemplate appended thereto to an electronic device of the at least oneuser.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a methodfor providing content to at least one user, comprises corresponding atleast one action to at least one action template, associating thecontent with the at least one action, and presenting the content to theat least one user, wherein the at least one action template is appendedto the content.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, anarticle of manufacture comprises a computer readable storage mediumcomprising program code tangibly embodied thereon, which when executedby a computer, performs method steps for providing content to at leastone user, the method steps comprising corresponding at least one actionto at least one action template, associating the content with the atleast one action, and presenting the content to the at least one user,wherein the at least one action template is appended to the content

These and other exemplary embodiments of the invention will be describedor become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin more detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a high-level diagram of a system for providing content usingdynamic action templates according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for providing content using dynamicaction templates according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A-3F are screen shots for illustrating an implementation of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a computer system in accordance with which one ormore components/steps of the techniques of the invention may beimplemented, according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be discussed in furtherdetail with regard to systems and methods for providing content to atleast one user and, in particular, to systems and methods for providingcontent using dynamic action templates. This invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein.

Disclosed are systems and methods for dynamically associating differentsets of actions with the same content under different situations withoutemploying a complex programming effort. According to embodiments of thepresent invention, the content is not changed, and only the dynamicactions associated with the content are reconfigured.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, content (e.g.,a web page or other document) is associated with a list of actionabletasks (referred to herein as “dynamic actions”) that may change when thecontent is rendered under different circumstances. The dynamic actions,for example, can address business decision making and/or unplannedsituations. The unplanned situation can be, for example, a new businesschallenge or critical business need, such as a recall, new product, needfor a press release, etc. The new business challenge or criticalbusiness need may be the result of a news outbreak.

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and systems for thecreation, customization, context association, rendering, executionand/or management of the dynamic actions that need to be incorporatedinto the content. Using templates, common dynamic actions, e.g., an askaction seeking a response to an inquiry, a rating action seeking aqualitative and/or quantitative rating of content, a goto actionrequiring some sort of affirmative action or input, an approve actionrequiring that a planned change or activity be approved, etc. arepredefined. For example, according to an embodiment, user seeking toincorporate an ask action into the content can activate an ask actiontemplate to be appended to the content, for example, at the end of thecontent, or accessible via a button or link, e.g., hyperlink, followingthe content. The template may include, for example, a question andbuttons for responses (e.g., “yes”, “no”, “cancel”), and can becustomizable for a user to input the actual question and/or modify theresponses to fit the question. In addition, according to an embodiment,the user can specify a location where the response is to be sent, e.g.,a destination URL. In this way, the ask action can be added to thecontent without modifying the content.

According to an embodiment, when a particular content is displayed for auser, a list of dynamic actions is also retrieved. For each dynamicaction in the list, a client GUI engine creates a GUI control (e.g., amenu item, button, etc.) for a user to activate or deactivate a dynamicaction on the content. When a dynamic action is activated, based on atemplate type associated with the activated action, the GUI enginerenders a particular UI to interact with the user. During thisinteraction, a user can customize the dynamic action that is to beappended to the content. As a result, according to an embodiment, whilethe content remains the same from one rendering to another, the list ofdynamic actions associated with the content can change based on whethera user activates the dynamic actions.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, each dynamicaction is associated with a type or category specified by the template.When a dynamic action is activated, a client GUI engine renders thepredefined action template. According to an embodiment, in addition topre-set attributes, each dynamic action template also includescustomizable attributes, such as labels and destinations whose valuesare not part of the templates, but included in a dynamic action listassociated with the content to be rendered on the client. For example,as referenced above, according to an embodiment, an action with an “ask”template type can be rendered by a GUI engine showing a question and 3buttons (e.g., yes, no, and cancel). According to an embodiment, a usermanaging the addition of dynamic actions to content can customize actualtextual values of the question and button labels, and destinations(e.g., URLs) once the buttons are pressed in response to the question.In accordance with an embodiment, dynamic action templates can allow auser to specify a destination (e.g., URL) where results are to be sentafter a response is given.

In use in connection with the content, when a dynamic action is invoked,the GUI engine retrieves the customizable information and uses it torender the UI for this action. After a receiving user's interaction withthe action UI on the content, the result (e.g., the button that waspressed, the text that was entered, the options that the user chose,etc.) is sent back to the destination URL.

Referring to FIG. 1, which is a high-level diagram of a system forproviding content using dynamic action templates, according to anexemplary embodiment of the invention, the system includes a managementmodule 102, a handler module 104, a web tooling module 106, and achoreograph engine 108. The system 100 provides a way to send content110 to a plurality of users such as, for example, browser clients 114and mobile clients 116. Users may be, for example, members of teams in abusiness environment. Users can receive the content via a variety ofelectronic devices, including but not limited to, desktop computers,laptops, mobile phones, such as smartphones, personal digital assistants(PDAs), or any other device capable of receiving and sending electroniccommunications over a network. The network can include, but is notlimited to, for example, a local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), cellular network, satellite network and the Internet.

The content 110 includes, for example, web pages, spreadsheets, textdocuments, such as, for example, memorandums, reports, etc. By attachingthe templates 112 to the content 110, new issues and/or actions can beaddressed and/or responded to without changing the content prior tosending. The addition of the templates provides a way to solicitresponses from the users in connection with issues and/or actionscorresponding to the content without changing the content. As a result,reaching a user that is required to take action in connection withparticular content can be performed quickly and efficiently by using theaction templates, which eliminate the need to modify, restructure and/orreprogram the content.

According to an embodiment, different users can receive the same contentwith different action templates depending on their roles, jobdescriptions, powers and/or authorizations. The choreograph engine 108centrally controls routing of the content 110 with appropriatelyactivated templates to the proper users who are capable of performingdifferent tasks and providing different responses. The choreographengine 108 can be programmed by a user managing the solicitation ofresponses from the different users to reach the proper users in a properorder/workflow. For example, in a first step of a workflow, a manager ofa team may be able to indicate approval of certain content using anapproval template. When the handler module 104 receives the responsefrom the manager, the response can be sent to the management module 102to further process the content for the next step in the workflow by, forexample, appending a different template to the same content for sendingto another team member. The choreograph engine 108 receives the furtherprocessed content from the management module and dispatches the contentand corresponding templates to appropriate team members in the next stepof the workflow. For example, once content is approved, the content getsto next team member, who is notified of the approval and informed of arequest for further action via a different template, such as, forexample, a rating or feedback template. Therefore, at any given pointduring the workflow process, the same content may be associated with adifferent template depending on the stage within the workflow anddepending on the audience. The choreograph engine 108 can include adocument optimization system, such as, for example, the DOCROVER system.As an alternative, or as a supplement to the choreograph engine 108, amessage included with the content sent to a user can direct users to usespecific templates and forward the content to other users who may needto fill in different templates.

The management module 102 manages the contents 110 and stores thecontents in the repository 120, where the contents 110 are ready foruse. The management module 102 also manages the templates 112, and canretrieve the contents 110 and templates 112 in response to a request toretrieve from a user incorporating templates to accompany certaincontent 110. For example, through the management module 102, a user canactivate one or more dynamic actions to be associated with certaincontent, and the management module 102 is programmed to correspond thedynamic actions with respective action templates so that when the useractivates a dynamic action from a list of dynamic actions, themanagement module processes the activation and presents thecorresponding action template to the user for customization via a userinterface. The user can use the web tools from the web tooling module106 to customize certain templates 112 for chosen content 110. Themanagement module 102 appends the template(s) to the chosen content 110,and the chosen content 110 with the accompanying template(s) 112 is sentfrom the management module 102 to the repository 120 for storage or fromthe management module 102 to the choreograph engine 108 for deploymentand delivery to users 114, 116.

The handler module 104 receives users' 114, 116 responses inputted viathe templates and having the knowledge of where the responses are to besent, forwards the responses to an appropriate destination to trigger abusiness process 118 or to the management module 102 for furtherprocessing. According to an embodiment of the present invention, theknowledge of where the responses are to be sent can be input to thehandler module 104 by a user directly to the handler module 104, or viathe management module 102. A business process 118 can be for example,competitor information gathering, publicity tasks, exception handling,budgeting, product management, etc.

Referring to FIG. 2, which is a flow diagram of a method for providingcontent using dynamic action templates according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention, the method includes corresponding dynamicactions to respective action templates (block 202), associating a givencontent with at least one of the dynamic actions (block 204), appendingthe action template of the associated dynamic action to the content(block 208), and presenting the content with the appended actiontemplate to a user (block 210). According to an embodiment, associatingthe content with at least one of the dynamic actions includes activatingthe dynamic action from a plurality of actions. It is noted that as asituation warrants, (e.g., depending on the roles and functions of auser receiving the content), more than one dynamic action can beassociated with the content, so that more than one template may beattached to content sent to a particular user.

According to an embodiment, presenting can comprise displaying thecontent and the action template on a screen of an electronic device of auser capable of receiving and sending electronic communications over anetwork. Prior to appending the action template to the content, a usermanaging delivery of the content has the option of customizing fields ofthe template (206), the fields including, but not limited to, labels anddestinations whose values are not part of the templates. The labels mayinclude specific questions and possible responses to the questionspresented to a user, and the destination may be a location (e.g., URL)where a response from the user inputted via the action template is to besent.

A response is solicited from the user via the action template, and themethod further includes receiving the response from the user (block212). Once the response is received from the user, it is determinedwhether the content is to be dispatched to another user (block 214). Ifyes, the process returns to step 204, where the content is thenassociated with a different one of the dynamic actions, the actiontemplate of the different associated dynamic action is appended to thecontent, and the content with the newly appended action template ispresented to the other user. The content is dispatched to the other userwithout modifying the content and the new action template appended tothe content solicits a different response from the response solicitedvia the first action template.

If no at block 214, the process continues to block 216 where theresponse is forwarded to a destination (e.g., a destination specifiedduring customization) to trigger a business process. It is to be notedthat, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, responsescan also be forwarded to a destination (block 216) even when the contentis dispatched to another user (i.e., there is a “yes” response at block214).

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3F, which are screen shots for illustrating animplementation of an embodiment of the present invention, content 302 issent to a user, who receives a request for action 304, which in thiscase is to gather new label design and printing retooling costs forprinting new labels in response to a peanut recall. Instead of modifyingthe content 302 to direct a user to these requests, the user is suppliedwith an action template 306 through the user's mobile device 308. Usingthe mobile device 308, referring to FIGS. 3D and 3E, the user canrespond to the action request by entering data into the data entryportion 306 a (e.g., partial spreadsheet) of the template, andauthorizing an update of the content via an approval portion 306 b ofthe template 306. Referring to FIG. 3F, a user can cause content to beupdated via the user's mobile device by simply inputting data into andclicking on buttons in a template 306 instead of opening and editing aspreadsheet from the content itself. In this way, a user is not requiredto update the content via a web-based portal to program a webpage using,for example, html. Although not shown, the user is also able to view theoriginal content 302 on his or her device 308.

Embodiments of the present invention can be implemented outside of theweb page framework, using for example, JAVA, C++, Visual Basic, etc.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, apparatus, method, or computerprogram product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may takethe form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) oran embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3A-3F illustrate the architecture, functionality, andoperation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computerprogram products according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or a block diagrammay represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises oneor more executable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagram and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagram and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

One or more embodiments can make use of software running on ageneral-purpose computer or workstation. With reference to FIG. 4, in acomputing node 510 there is a computer system/server 512, which isoperational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 512 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 512 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 512 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 4, computer system/server 512 in computing node 510 isshown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The componentsof computer system/server 512 may include, but are not limited to, oneor more processors or processing units 516, a system memory 528, and abus 518 that couples various system components including system memory528 to processor 516.

The bus 518 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

The computer system/server 512 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 512, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

The system memory 528 can include computer system readable media in theform of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 530 and/orcache memory 532. The computer system/server 512 may further includeother removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer systemstorage media. By way of example only, storage system 534 can beprovided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatilemagnetic media (not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Althoughnot shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to aremovable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and anoptical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable,non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other opticalmedia can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to thebus 518 by one or more data media interfaces. As depicted and describedherein, the memory 528 may include at least one program product having aset (e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carryout the functions of embodiments of the invention. A program/utility540, having a set (at least one) of program modules 542, may be storedin memory 528 by way of example, and not limitation, as well as anoperating system, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, and program data or somecombination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 542 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as describedherein.

Computer system/server 512 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 514 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display524, etc., one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 512, and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 512 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaInput/Output (I/O) interfaces 522. Still yet, computer system/server 512can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 520. As depicted, network adapter 520communicates with the other components of computer system/server 512 viabus 518. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 512. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may bemade by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope orspirit of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A system for providing content to at least one user,comprising: a graphical user interface engine capable of creating agraphical user interface control for each action of a plurality ofpredetermined actions displayed with the content; wherein the pluralityof predetermined actions comprise at least two of an ask action seekinga response to an inquiry, a rating action seeking a rating of thecontent, an input action requiring an affirmative input, and an approveaction requiring approval of a change or activity; wherein which of theplurality of predetermined actions displayed with the content isdynamically altered in response to a change in at least one circumstancerequiring an update of the content; wherein the graphical user interfacecontrol for each action is used for activating or deactivating at leastone action of the plurality of predetermined actions; a managementmodule capable of corresponding the at least one action to at least oneaction template, associating the content with the at least one action,and appending the at least one action template to the content withoutmodifying the content, wherein the associating comprises activating theat least one action via a corresponding graphical user interface controlfor the at least one action without modifying the content; wherein thegraphical user interface engine is further capable of rendering a userinterface based on the at least one action template for customizing theat least one action template upon activating the at least one action;wherein the customizing comprises specifying one or more response labelsbased on one or more inquiries in the at least one action template, andspecifying a destination where one or more responses to the one or moreinquiries in the at least one action template are to be transmitted; achoreograph engine capable of routing the content including the at leastone action template appended thereto to an electronic device of the atleast one user, wherein the at least one action template solicits afirst response from the at least one user; wherein the at least oneaction template comprises a replicated portion of the content which isedited by the at least one user without the at least one user accessingand modifying the content, and the edited replicated portion istransmitted from the electronic device of the at least one user as atleast part of the first response; and a handler module capable ofreceiving the first response from the at least one user; wherein themanagement module is further capable of appending at least one otheraction template to the content without modifying the content, so thatthe content to which the at least one other action template is appendedis the same as the content routed to the at least one user; wherein thechoreograph engine is further capable of routing the content includingthe at least one other action template appended thereto to an electronicdevice of at least one other user; wherein the at least one other actiontemplate is different from the at least one action template and solicitsa second response from the at least one other user different from thefirst response, and a selection of the at least one other actiontemplate is based on a stage within a workflow, and one or more detailsabout the at least one other user; wherein the handler module is furthercapable of receiving the second response from the at least one otheruser, and forwarding the first and second responses to the destinationto trigger a process based at least in part on the first and secondresponses; wherein the handler module is further capable ofautomatically determining the destination based on a knowledge sent fromthe management module which specifies the destination that will triggerthe process based on the first and second responses; wherein the firstand second responses are forwarded to the destination while dispatchingthe content to one or more other users; wherein the content is stored ina file; wherein an update of the content in the file is performedexclusively via the at least one action template and the at least oneother action template to correspond the content to the first and secondresponses; and wherein the update is performed without any user,including the at least one user and the at least one other user, openingthe file including the content.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thecontent includes at least one of a webpage, a textual document or aspreadsheet.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the management module iscapable of displaying the at least one action template via the userinterface for customizing the at least one action template.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein: the first response from the at least oneuser is inputted via the at least one action template, and the secondresponse from the at least one other user is inputted via the at leastone other action template.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein: the firstresponse from the at least one user is inputted via the at least oneaction template, and the second response from the at least one otheruser is inputted via the at least one other action template.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the electronic device of the at least oneuser and the electronic device of the at least one other user are each amobile device capable of receiving and sending electronic communicationsover a network.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one userand the at least one other user each authorize the update of the contentin the file via respective approval portions of the at least one actiontemplate and the at least one other action template.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the selection of the at least one other action templatebased on the stage within a workflow comprises: determining that thefirst response indicates approval of the content by the at least oneuser; and selecting the at least one other action template, wherein theat least one other action template comprises a request for furtheraction by the at least one other user based on the approval of thecontent.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the process comprises atleast one of competitor information gathering, a publicity task,exception handling, budgeting and product management.
 10. An article ofmanufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium comprisingprogram code tangibly embodied thereon, which when executed by acomputer, performs method steps for providing content to at least oneuser, the method steps comprising: displaying the content with aplurality of predetermined actions comprising at least two of an askaction seeking a response to an inquiry, a rating action seeking arating of the content, an input action requiring an affirmative input,and an approve action requiring approval of a change or activity,wherein which of the plurality of predetermined actions displayed withthe content is dynamically altered in response to a change in at leastone circumstance requiring an update of the content; creating agraphical user interface control for each action of the plurality ofpredetermined actions to be used for activating or deactivating at leastone action of the plurality of predetermined actions; corresponding theat least one action to at least one action template; associating thecontent with the at least one action, wherein the associating comprisesactivating the at least one action via a corresponding graphical userinterface control for the at least one action without modifying thecontent; rendering a user interface based on the at least one actiontemplate for customizing the at least one action template uponactivating the at least one action; wherein the customizing comprisesspecifying one or more response labels based on one or more inquiries inthe at least one action template, and specifying a destination where oneor more responses to the one or more inquiries in the at least oneaction template are to be transmitted; presenting the content to the atleast one user, wherein the at least one action template is appended tothe content without modifying the content; soliciting a first responsefrom the at least one user via the at least one action template; whereinthe at least one action template comprises a replicated portion of thecontent which is edited by the at least one user without the at leastone user accessing and modifying the content, and the edited replicatedportion is transmitted from a device of the at least one user as atleast part of the first response; receiving the first response from theat least one user; dispatching and presenting the content to at leastone other user without modifying the content so that the contentdispatched to the at least one other user is the same as the contentpresented to the at least one user, wherein: at least one other actiontemplate different from the at least one action template is appended tothe content dispatched to the at least one other user; the at least oneother action template solicits a second response from the at least oneother user different from the first response; and a selection of the atleast one other action template is based on a stage within a workflow,and one or more details about the at least one other user; receiving thesecond response from the at least one other user; forwarding the firstand second responses to the destination to trigger a process based atleast in part on the first and second responses, wherein the forwardingcomprises automatically determining the destination based on a knowledgesent from the management module which specifies the destination thatwill trigger the process based on the first and second responses, andwherein the first and second responses are forwarded to the destinationwhile dispatching the content to one or more other users; wherein thecontent is stored in a file; and updating the content in the file,wherein the updating is performed exclusively via the at least oneaction template and the at least one other action template to correspondthe content to the first and second responses, wherein the updating isperformed without any user, including the at least one user and the atleast one other user, opening the file including the content.
 11. Thearticle of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the method steps furthercomprise authorizing the updating of the content in the file viarespective approval portions of the at least one action template and theat least one other action template.
 12. The article of manufacture ofclaim 10, wherein the selection of the at least one other actiontemplate based on the stage within a workflow comprises: determiningthat the first response indicates approval of the content by the atleast one user; and selecting the at least one other action template,wherein the at least one other action template comprises a request forfurther action by the at least one other user based on the approval ofthe content.
 13. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein theprocess comprises at least one of competitor information gathering, apublicity task, exception handling, budgeting and product management.